On Wednesday, the Smoky Hill Buffaloes faced the Eaglecrest Raptors in a battle between two of the state's top teams. Smoky Hill strolled past Eaglecrest with points to spare, taking the game 70-53. Winning may never get old, but Smoky Hill sure is getting used to it with their fifth in a row.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Smoky Hill to victory, but perhaps none more so than Carter Basquez, who almost dropped a triple-double on 12 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists. Kevin Sylla was another key contributor, scoring 19 points along with six rebounds and two blocks.
Eaglecrest's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Ladavian King, who scored 17 points along with seven rebounds and four steals. King has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last three times he's played. Another player making a difference was Garrett Barger, who scored 12 points along with five rebounds.
Smoky Hill pushed their record up to 11-3 with that victory, which was their fourth straight on the road. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 71.5 points per game. As for Eaglecrest, their loss dropped their record down to 9-4.
Smoky Hill will be playing in front of their home fans against Cherokee Trail at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Cherokee Trail will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Colorado Rankings (they are ranked 97th, while Smoky Hill is ranked third). As for Eaglecrest, they will head out on the road to face off against Overland at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. That game will pit two of the most dominant guards against one another: Siraaj Ali and King.
